Dakhati licked his teeth, uneasy. ‘Minwanabi, or bandits?’
Wiallo’s smile died. ‘Grey warriors would give this company a wide berth.’
Keyoke snapped his chin strap tab through the keeper under his jawbone. ‘Minwanabi, then. Where would they be likely to hit us?’
Wiallo frowned. ‘A clever commander would see us over this next small rise.’ He pointed at the ridge that rose like a knife cut against late-day haze. ‘About halfway up the slope on the far side of the next valley, the road rises sharply again and snakes through a chain of steep gullies.’
Keyoke nodded. ‘The enemy would keep to higher ground, while we, under bowfire, would be forced to whip the needra uphill over rocks to escape.’ His clear eyes met those of Wiallo. ‘That’s where I would strike, with a follow-up company to plug the valley from the rear, and cut off our chance of retreat.’ He glanced around. ‘They are most likely infiltrating behind us right now.’
Behind the rows of nervous soldiers, a needra bawled. Traces creaked, and a carter cursed, and a patter of running footsteps approached.
‘Make way! A scout returns!’ somebody called from the rear.
Neat ranks parted, and a warrior stumbled through, white-faced and gasping for breath.
Dakhati stepped forward and caught the runner as he rocked unsteadily to a stop. ‘Force Commander!’
Keyoke turned with a calm he did not feel. ‘Speak clearly.’
‘Soldiers upon the road behind us.’ The man dragged in a painful breath. ‘Perhaps a hundred, a hundred and fifty, and Corjazun says he recognized their officer. Minwanabi.’
Keyoke’s first reaction was a softly spoken ‘Damn.’ Then he touched the heaving shoulder of the runner and added, ‘Well done. Is this army travelling covertly?’
The runner scrubbed his palm over his salt-wet brow. ‘They march openly. We estimated the troop size by the cloud of dust they raised.’
Keyoke’s eyes narrowed. Briskly he concluded, ‘That’s no raiding band; that’s a company strength, a hundred men at least, to drive us into the trap.’
Dakhati ventured an opinion. ‘If we have an ambush waiting for us, and an army closing from behind -‘
‘They knew we were coming,’ finished Keyoke. The implications were chilling, but academic, unless someone survived to warn Lady Mara she had an intelligence leak within her household. ‘I hate to abandon the silk wagons, but if we don’t, we’re all sacrifices to the Red God and the silk’s lost anyway.’ The Force Commander prepared to deliver grim orders.
A touch from Wiallo stopped him.
‘Force Commander,’ offered the onetime grey warrior. ‘There might be another way.’
‘Tell me quickly,’ Keyoke demanded.
‘There’s a foot trail hidden by boulders near the base of this rise. It leads to a narrow canyon that bandits used as a camp. The wagons cannot pass, but the silk could be hidden, and the position at least offers hope. There is only one entrance, and that can be defended with very small numbers of men.’
Keyoke’s gaze shifted to the horizon, as if searching for sign of the army that approached to destroy them. ‘How long could we last there? Long enough to get word to Lady Mara? Or to recall Lujan?’
Wiallo was silent. He said, on a frank note, ‘A message, perhaps, to our mistress. Long enough to hold until relief arrives from home? The Minwanabi could force their way through if they were willing to endure a terrible slaughter.’
Dakhati slapped his thigh in a startling display of anger. ‘What honour to abandon that which we are pledged to defend?’
Curtly Keyoke said, ‘The wagons are lost in any event. We cannot defend them and sally against a hundred men in the open.’ More important, Mara must not go uninformed of Minwanabi’s access to her secrets. No, better we make a stand, and send a messenger while the Minwanabi are kept occupied at the canyon.
Lashima’s wisdom guide us all, Keyoke prayed inwardly. Then he raised his voice and said, ‘There are better ways to defend a trust than to fight to the death before letting the enemy seize the prize.’ He added a swift string of orders.